Body of Navy SEAL from Phoenix killed in action returning to US
May 6, 2016, 10:39 AM | Updated: 11:27 am
U.S. Navy file photo of Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles Keating IV, 31, of San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
(U.S. Navy photo/Released)
PHOENIX — The body of an Arizona-born U.S. Navy SEAL killed during combat in Iraq was scheduled to arrive in the United States on Friday.
SEALs spokeswoman Lt. Beth Teach said the body of Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SEAL) Charles Keating IV was to fly into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
The Phoenix-reared Keating was killed Tuesday in a battle with Islamic State forces about 20 miles north of Mosul, Iraq.
Keating, 31, and part of his team were backing up a local Peshmerga force when they were attacked.
Earlier this week, a British newspaper released cellphone footage that it said was part of the firefight between Keating’s team and IS fighters.
Teach said Keating’s remains will be returned next week to Coronado, California, near San Diego, where his SEAL team is based.
The Phoenix Arcadia High School graduate had been an instructor at the base before being deployed to Iraq this tear.
A funeral will be held in the San Diego area, where Keating’s family asked that he be buried. Details were still to be determined.
His awards and decorations included the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal and Rifle and Pistol Expert ribbons, according to a Navy release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
